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Category: ASEAN

Student detainees in Myanmar allegedly beaten, kept in solitary confinement

Editor010 mins

Four students imprisoned for protesting the ruling military junta have been held in solitary confinement and beaten nearly every day by authorities since being transferred to central Myanmar’s Bago region less than two weeks ago, their relatives and sources with knowledge of the situation said Thursday. Min Thu Aung, Banya Oo, Ye Htut Khaung and Zaw Win Htut — all students at Hpa-an University in Hpa-n, Kayin state — were arrested in March and charged with defamation of the state, organizing or helping a group to encourage the overthrow or destruction of the Myanmar military, and having contact with an unlawful organization, in this case an ethnic armed group fighting national forces. They each have been sentenced to 12 to 13 years in prison. The four students were among 60 other political prisoners who were transferred from Hpa-An Prison to Tharrawaddy Prison in Bago region on July 9. On instructions from the warden at Hpa-an Prison, the students were separated from the other prisoners when they arrived at the Bago detention center and placed in solitary confinement, a person close to one of the families told RFA. The four have been beaten and locked up in solitary confinement nearly every day since July 10, the youths’ family members and those familiar with the situation said. “They were not handcuffed when they were first beaten, though their ankles were shackled,” the person told RFA. Human rights violations in prisons, such as the beatings the students have experienced, have gotten worse since the military overthrew the democratically elected government in a February 2020 coup, said a spokesman for the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a Thai NGO. “We have heard that political prisoners are being tortured intentionally and unjustly because they are political prisoners, and that they are being tortured in various ways,” he told RFA. According to AAPP’s records, junta authorities have arrested 11,743 civilians for civil disobedience activities, of which 1,344 were sentenced to prison terms, since the coup took place. When they were beaten while sitting without handcuffs, Banya Oo and Ye Htut Khaung tried to fight back, but were struck more forcefully, said the person close to one of the families of the detained students. They were then handcuffed, dragged away and locked in solitary cells. “They were taken out of the cells every morning and were beaten again,” the person said, adding that the guards taunted them, asking if their revolution against the junta had succeeded and telling them to say “We must win,” while continuing the beatings. The source said there were rumors that representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) may visit the detention center to investigate the alleged mistreatment of the students. Prison guards removed the students from solitary confinement on July 18, though they are still suffering from injuries from the daily beatings and have not received medical treatment, he said. Another RFA source, who did not want to be named for security reasons, said all four men had serious injuries, including broken noses and head wounds and that one was beaten until his teeth fell out. RFA could not reach Prisons Department officials in Yangon or military junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment. A statement issued by the ICRC in Myanmar on Monday said authorities must treat prisoners with dignity and humanity and ensure their health and safety. It also said the authorities had suspended ICRC access to prisons since March 2020 to check on detainees and provide humanitarian aid. ‘These actions are crimes’ The torture of prisoners is a serious human rights violation because the students have already suffered from being sentenced to long jail terms, said the father of one of the students, who declined to be named for safety reasons. “The kids have already been given punishments,” he said. “They haven’t broken any law or prison rules [since their arrests]. They didn’t even have any kind of prisoners’ rights and all these beatings are very serious violations of human rights. “We feel that this kind of mistreatment has become more serious after the military coup,” he said. “There’s no rule of law at all. No matter what the law says, people would be arrested and unjustly sentenced by the courts once accusations were made against them.” The students’ parents and relatives from Hpa-an requested permission to visit Tharrawaddy Prison, but prison authorities rejected their requests. Tun Kyi, a senior member of the Former Political Prisoners Society, said prison authorities have a policy of torturing political prisoners. “They are committing the most serious violation of human rights with the intention of subduing political prisoners so that they do not dare to rise up again,” he said. “They have laid out policies in various prisons, and then brutally oppressed and tortured the prisoners, often asking questions like, ‘Are you a revolutionary?’ and ‘Is your revolution making any headway?’ before hitting them.” Hpa-an and Tharrawaddy prisons, along with Yangon’s Insein Prison, are among the worst detention centers of Myanmar’s more than 40 jails, Tun Kyi said. A former prison warden, who did not want to be named out of concern for his safety, said the prison officials who mistreat detainees nowadays are former military officers. A legal expert from Yangon, who did not want to be named for the same reason, said that physical beating of any detainee, including political prisoners, is a crime according to the regulations governing prisons. “If you look at it as a lawyer, these actions are actually crimes because the jail manual states that prison wardens can give only 12 types of punishments,” he said. “No one else has the right to punish the prisoners. Among those 12 types of punishments that he can give, he is not allowed to beat prisoners.” Those who torture political prisoners will be held to account at some point, said the AAPP spokesman, who declined to be named for safety reasons. “Those who personally carry out the torture and all those who order…

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Unease downstream despite assurances that leaking Lao Nam Theun 1 is safe

Editor08 mins

People living near a leaking dam in central Laos remained fearful Wednesday, five days after a video of the leak went viral, despite assurances from the government that it is structurally safe and will be fixed in weeks, sources in the country told RFA. Video of the apparent leak at the Nam Theun 1 Dam in the central province of  Bolikhamxay was shared on Facebook on Saturday, a week before the fourth anniversary of the Southeast Asian country’s worst ever dam collapse that killed more than 70 people. Authorities told RFA on Monday that  the video depicted only “seepage” that would have no effect on operations or safety at the hydroelectric dam on a Mekong River tributary. On Wednesday, however, the government put out a statement saying that the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines had found two small leaks during an inspection last month, and a second inspection on Sunday after the video circulated determined that the leaks were still the same size. “Our department inspected the dam on June 25, 2022 and found two leaks on the right side of the dam. However, the leaks are small and won’t have any impact on the structure of the dam,” Bouathep Malaykham, director of the ministry’s energy industry safety management department, said in the statement. “We immediately asked the dam developer to look for the source of the leaks and stop the leaks as soon as possible,” he said. “The developer is planning to fix the leaks in three weeks and our Ministry of Energy and Mines is closely monitoring the dam every day. Actually, we’re going to inspect the dam again on July 27, 2022,” Malaykham said The 650 MW Nam Theun 1 Dam is part of Laos’ controversial development strategy  to build dozens of hydropower dams on the Mekong River and its tributaries to become the “Battery of Southeast Asia” by exporting power to neighboring countries. Critics question rising debt levels and environmental damage as well as safety. The safety department head acknowledged that footage of the leaks on social media had caused understandable concern. But he rejected comparisons with the July 23, 2018 disaster, billions of cubic feet of water from a tributary of the Mekong River poured over a collapsed saddle dam at the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy (PNPC) hydropower project following heavy rains. It wiped out all or part of 19 villages, leaving 71 people dead and displacing 14,440 others. Malaykham’s statement reminded residents that the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy dam which collapsed in southern Laos four years ago was a soil dam, while the Nam Theun 1 Dam is a compact concrete dam.  “For those who want to post news and pictures of the dam, please think twice, and make sure your information is correct. If not, it might create some misunderstanding among the public,” he said. But the 2018 disaster is still fresh in the minds of people who live downstream from Nam Theun 1, and they remain terrified even with the explanation, a teacher in the province’s Pakkading district said Wednesday. “The dam is leaking now, and sooner or later the leak is going to get worse and finally the dam is going to break,” the teacher told RFA’s Lao Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons..  “Actually, the water is leaking from a dirt wall, not from the concrete wall, so, it’ll get larger and larger soon,” the teacher added. Another resident of the district told RFA he was not assuaged by government assurances. “History will repeat itself. We experienced the worst dam collapse four years ago, and now this is happening again.” A survivor of the 2018 disaster said the developer has instituted a warning system in the years since it caused what has been described as Laos’ worst flooding in decades. “The Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy Dam developer often issues alerts or warnings to us during the rainy season; but up to now, there has been no drills of an emergency or rescue plan at all,” the survivor told RFA Wednesday. The government recently ordered more inspections on hydroelectric dams, a dam developer in northern Laos’ Oudomxay province told RFA. “We already do inspections. We coordinate with the local authorities and residents about our dam condition,” the developer said. Dams also warn the public and the local authorities prior to releasing water, an employee of a dam developer in southern Laos’ Sekong province told RFA. The Nam Theun 1 hydropower project is 60 percent funded by Phonesack Group, 25 percent by EGAT and 15 percent by Electricite du Laos. When complete, its 650 MW of output will be sold to neighboring Thailand. Though the Lao government sees power generation as a way to boost the landlocked country’s economy, the projects are controversial because of their environmental impact, displacement of villagers without adequate compensation, and questionable financial and power demand arrangements. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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Junta, opposition activists hold dueling events to mark Martyrs’ Day in Myanmar

Editor010 mins

Myanmar’s military regime and opposition forces held dueling events Tuesday to mark the country’s 75th Martyrs’ Day, with heavy security deployed in the commercial capital Yangon for an official ceremony as anti-junta activists marched and held protests in several cities and towns. The families of the nine assassinated national leaders honored on the holiday laid wreaths at an official ceremony held by the junta at the Martyrs’ Mausoleum in Yangon. Noticeably absent from the event were the families of independence hero Gen. Aung San, whose daughter Aung San Suu Kyi was thrown in prison following the military’s Feb. 1, 2021 overthrow of her government, and his elder brother Ba Win. The military closed several of the main roads in the city for the early morning ceremony, which junta chief Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing did not attend. A resident of Yangon told RFA Burmese that the military set up checkpoints throughout the city ahead of the event. “Armed police were placed on pedestrian bridges and there were a lot of junta vehicles patrolling the streets. In addition, there were police and soldiers in front of City Hall, at many intersections and posted at various checkpoints,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “There were soldiers and police in plain clothes too … [The authorities] checked everyone who approached the cordoned areas.” The military also tightened security and carried out inspections along various roads in Myanmar’s second-largest city Mandalay, where the opposition maintains a strong presence. Demonstrators march in Kachin state on Martyrs’ Day, July 19, 2022. Credit: Citizen journalist Despite the clampdown, people on the streets in many townships, including Yangon, commemorated Martyrs’ Day by honking their car horns and carrying wreaths honoring the nine leaders. Even political prisoners in Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison marked the holiday by writing excerpts of speeches by the nine martyrs on their uniforms. Meanwhile, anti-junta activists staged protests and hung posters denouncing the military regime in the regions of Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway, and Tanintharyi, as well as in Kachin and Kayah states. A monk in Mandalay told RFA that activists held a march on Monday to commemorate Martyrs’ Day in anticipation of tight security in the city for the actual holiday. “We were able to lead a protest column … on the eve of Martyr’s Day,” said the monk, who also declined to be named. “Today, security was tight and we couldn’t undertake any activities … But we held a prayer ceremony this evening.” In Mon state, a member of the anti-junta People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitary group in Thaton township told RFA that a ceremony was held honoring not only the Nine Martyrs, but all who had died in the struggle for democracy. “[They] are also martyrs who deserve to be remembered,” he said. “They fought and sacrificed their lives for the sake of the country and people, for the truth and for justice, so we also must salute them.” Martyrs’ Day activities were also observed in Sagaing region’s Budalin, Chaung-U, Kani, Khin-U, Yinmarbin, Salingyi, Tamu, and Shwebo townships; Magway region’s Pauk, Gangaw, and Tilin townships; Tanintharyi region’s Launglon and Thayetchaung townships; Bago region’s Bago and Letpadan townships; Kachin state’s Hpakant township; and Kayah state’s Phekon township. Vice-Senior Gen. Soe Win (front), vice-chairman of the junta, salutes with officials at the tomb of Myanmar’s independence hero Gen. Aung San during a ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of his 1947 assassination, at the Martyrs’ Mausoleum in Yangon, July 19, 2022. Credit: Myanmar Ministry of Information via AP Abandoned goals Nan Lin, a member ofUniversity Students’ Unions Alumni Force in Yangon, told RFA that the junta had abandoned the goals of the Martyrs, so it was not strange that the family members of Aung San and Ba Win did not attend Tuesday’s official ceremony. “The number one thing they wanted was independence and the formation of a federal union, followed by the flourishing of democracy and human rights in our country,” he said. “However, what the military has been doing is totally against the aspirations of the martyred leaders.” On July 19, 1947, nine of Myanmar’s independence leaders were gunned down by members of a rival political group while holding a cabinet meeting in Yangon. The victims were Prime Minister Aung San, Minister of Information Ba Cho, Minister of Industry and Labor Mahn Ba Khaing, Minister of Trade Ba Win, Minister of Education Abdul Razak, and Myanmar’s unofficial Deputy Prime Minister Thakin Mya. The nine played key roles in Myanmar’s independence movement and, following the end of British rule less than six months later, the date of their assassination was designated a national holiday. Speaking to RFA in Yangon on Tuesday, youth protester Myat Min Khant said that Martyrs’ Day is now a day to commemorate all those who have sacrificed their lives for the nation. “There may have been nine martyrs in the past, but presently there are many more than nine,” he said. “There were martyrs in the urban clashes, in the street protests, and in the liberated areas [of Myanmar’s remote border regions]. We must recognize the brave warriors who died in battle [against the junta].” The military seized power from Myanmar’s democratically elected government last year, claiming voter fraud led to a landslide victory for the National League for Democracy (NLD) in the country’s November 2020 election. The junta has yet to provide evidence of its claims and has violently suppressed nationwide protests calling for a return to civilian rule. According to Thailand’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the military has killed at least 2,092 civilians and arrested nearly 15,000 since the takeover, mostly during peaceful anti-junta demonstrations. The group acknowledges that its list is incomplete and says the numbers are likely much higher. Translation by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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Japan renews promise to help Philippines modernize its military

Editor05 mins

During a visit to Manila, Japan’s vice minister for defense renewed Tokyo’s commitment to helping the Philippines modernize its military, as the Southeast Asian nation faces territorial threats, Filipino officials said Tuesday. Tsuyohito Iwamoto met with Jose Faustino, the Philippines’ acting defense secretary, at Camp Aguinaldo on Monday after talks with other key Philippine defense and military officials, according to the Philippine Department of National Defense.  Beijing was not specifically mentioned, but the Philippines, along with other nations in the region, is locked in a bitter territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea. Japan, for its part, is locked in a separate dispute with China in the East China Sea, particularly over the Senkaku Islands. “The two officials discussed overall Philippines-Japan defense relations and regional security concerns,” the department said in a statement, adding that both officials “reaffirmed that respect for international law and a rules-based order is essential in maintaining peace and stability in the region, particularly in the South China Sea and East China Sea.” Arsenio Andolong, a spokesman for the department, said Iwamoto talked about Japan’s ongoing efforts to support the Philippines. “Japan has expressed its willingness to continue offering us equipment and some technologies. They want to help us with our requirements for our modernization,” Andolong said without giving more details because he was not authorized to do so. Over the past several years, Japan has donated trainer aircraft, spare parts for Huey helicopters and search-and-rescue equipment to the Filipino armed forces. Andolong said Faustino and Iwamoto also discussed defense relations as well as regional security concerns. During their meeting, Faustino and Iwamoto recalled the successful April two-plus-two Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting the countries held in Tokyo, Andolong said. Iwamoto described that meeting as a “manifestation of the two countries’ growing bilateral strategic partnership,” according to Andolong.  At Camp Aguinaldo, Iwamoto also met with Armed Forces chief Gen. Andres Centino where they discussed “bilateral engagements anchored on existing defense cooperation agreements,” according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Centino thanked Japan for its involvement in the Air Surveillance Radar System Acquisition Project under the military’s modernization program. The 5.5 billion pesos ($98 million) contract, signed in August 2020, was awarded to the Japanese firm Mitsubishi Electric Corp. The defense department said the radar was to cover the Philippine Rise to the east of the nation, the southern region where Islamic State-linked militants operate, as well as the “the Southern portion of the West Philippine Sea,” Manila’s name for its claimed territories in the South China Sea. The radar is expected to help boost Manila’s airspace monitoring, aircraft control as well as help the air force perform its air defense mission. In particular, it will “help detect, identify and correlate any threats and intrusions within the Philippine economic zone and deliver radar images” to operating units, the department said. The system is expected to be delivered later this year, according to a Philippine media report. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.

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Interview: Former Trump China adviser Miles Yu wants NATO to go global

Editor09 mins

Historian Miles Yu, a former China adviser to the Trump administration, has called in a recent op-ed article for NATO to create a broader security alliance including the Indo-Pacific region, in a bid to stave off a Chinese invasion of democratic Taiwan. “There is an emerging international alliance, forged in the face of today’s greatest global threat to freedom and democracy,” Yu, who served as senior China policy and planning advisor to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, wrote in the Taipei Times on July 11, 2022. “That threat comes from the China-led, Beijing-Moscow axis of tyranny and aggression,” the article said. “And the new alliance to counter that axis may be called the North-Atlantic-Indo-Pacific Treaty Organization — NAIPTO.” Yu argued that NATO’s strength would be “augmented” by robust U.S. defense alliances covering Eurasia, as well as the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans. “Such scale is necessary because NATO nations and major countries in the Indo-Pacific region face the same common threat. Common threats are the foundation for common defense,” Yu said. In a later interview with RFA’s Mandarin Service, Yu said the idea would solve several problems. “The first is to unify the U.S. global alliance system, which [is currently divided into] a European-style alliance that is multilateral, involving the joint defense of more than 30 countries,” Yu said. “In the Asia-Pacific region, the nature of the alliance is bilateral, that is, the United States has bilateral treaties with Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, but there is no mutual defense system between Japan, South Korea and the Philippines,” he said. “My proposal … is to unify the global alliance system of the United States and turn it into a multilateral collective defense treaty,” he said. He said NATO members and countries in the Indo-Pacific are facing a common threat, particularly since the Russian invasion of Ukraine had brought Beijing and Moscow closer together. “China and Russia are basically on the same page,” Yu said. “Both China and Russia are singing from the same hymn sheet when it comes to strategic statements and their understanding of the Russian-Ukrainian war.” “They are both in favor of making territorial claims against other countries based on civilization and language.” United States Naval Academy professor Miles Yu, a former China adviser to the Trump administration, poses for a photo during an RFA interview in Livermore, California, Oct. 16, 2021. Credit: RFA Common threat He said “ancestral” and “historical” claims on territory run counter to the current state of the world and internation law, and were effectively illegal. “The CCP and Russia have stood together and have recently acted together militarily,” Yu said, citing recent joint bomber cruises in the Sea of Japan, and joint warship exercises in the East China Sea. “Militarily, these moves are very meaningful; they mean that neighboring countries all face a common threat,” he said. He said European countries could perhaps be persuaded to contribute more funding for such an alliance, now that the EU appears to be following Washington’s lead in regarding China as its No. 1 strategic rival. “The United States cannot continue to keep up military spending on NATO as it did in the past,” Yu said. “This strategic shift shouldn’t require much persuasion for NATO’s European members, as they have a perception of the global threat from China that is more in line with that of the U.S. now.” Asked if that shift in perception would extend to helping defend Taiwan, which has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and whose 23 million people have no wish to give up their sovereignty or democratic way of life, Yu said Ukraine may have changed thinking in Europe on Taiwan. “The people of Taiwan and the people of the world have learned a lot from recent developments, especially from the war in Ukraine,” Yu said. “What happened in Ukraine was something done by Russia, so, would the CCP do the same thing to Taiwan? Logically, philosophically, they would,” Yu said. “The CCP supports Russian aggression against Ukraine … because it senses that Russia has set a precedent, for which the next step would be Taiwan,” he said. “So European countries are going to have a keener sense of the need to protect Taiwan.” “If everyone unites to deal with the military threat from China and its economic coercive measures, the CCP won’t be so bold,” Yu said, citing China’s economic sanctions against Australia after the country started taking a more critical tone with Beijing. “The CCP got angry and imposed large-scale economic sanctions on Australia, stopped buying its coal, and stopped buying its wine,” Yu said. “But if Australia were to join this alliance, it could take joint action to deal with China’s unreasonable measures.” “The CCP would stand to lose a lot, because this would be collective action, and the likelihood of further outrageous actions would be greatly reduced,” he said. He added: “Many countries in the world, especially those in the Asia-Pacific region, are dependent on China’s economy, but China is also dependent on these countries for energy and markets. This is a two-way street.” Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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Protesters involved in Vietnamese road riot claim police torture

Editor07 mins

A man detained for protesting the demolition of a road in Vietnam’s Nghe An province says he was tortured into confessing by police while another detainee claims he was also forced to sign a confession. They were among 10 people arrested as hundreds of police clashed with locals demonstrating against the destruction of an old road connecting their village to a main road. A local, who did not want to be named for safety reasons, told RFA that police at Nghi Loc district police headquarters handcuffed a 55-year-old prisoner to a chair and slapped him. “The investigator, who was a uniformed officer, put one foot on his thigh to scare him then slapped him on both ears. He still has tinnitus. He was also hit on the back of the head,” the local said. Later the same day the resident claims the prisoner was slapped by another policeman named Toan, but not hard enough to cause any injury. He said the arrested man was told by police “if you don’t tell the truth you will be killed.” They ordered him to confess to the crimes of “disturbing public order” and “resisting a law enforcement officer in performance of his/her official duties.”  “He was forced to admit to causing disorder even though he said he didn’t cause trouble but was only seeking justice,” said the local. “They said he went to a crowded place [where people were] causing disorder. They forced him to confess.” “The policeman wrote the minutes himself, read them out and told him to sign. There were many passages he didn’t accept and crossed out but in the end he still had to sign.”  A 50-year-old man, who has also been released, said he was also forced to confess and was charged with “disturbing public order” and “resisting public officials.” Of the 10 arrested protesters one woman who wasn’t a local was released the same night. Seven people are still in custody. Binh Thuan parish resident Nguyen Van Hien said that, as of this Monday, the families of those still being held had not been allowed to visit and had not received any documents from the police about the cases against their relatives. Hundreds of police and plain clothes officers were mobilized on the morning of July 13 to stop the protest, building barbed wire fences around the road, which is on land the government has handed over to a company to build an industrial zone. A new road has been built to replace the old one but locals said they are worried the company that owns the road may close it and force them to leave the area their families have occupied for generations. Protestors removed part of the fence to occupy the old road and clashed with riot police armed with batons and shields. Video of the scene shows police firing tear gas and smoke grenades to disperse the crowd, some of whom responded by throwing petrol bombs. State media say five police officers were injured. A 72-year-old woman was taken to hospital, but her family were not allowed to see her. The 55-year-old man said he heard about the clashes with police in the morning and went to the scene to calm people, urging them to protest peacefully. He said he left when police fired smoke grenades and tear gas and returned to his village. When police started searching the village he hid on the second floor of a partially built house. He said police spotted him, threw him to the floor, beat and handcuffed him, dragging him along the ground. He said the beating left him with a lump on his head, facial bruising and blood in his eyes. The Investigation Police Agency of Nghi Loc district said they are collecting documents and evidence and investigating acts of “disturbing public order,” actions “against law enforcement officers” and claims of “illegally arresting people,” in accordance with Vietnamese law.

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Authorities cut power to Ukrainian cultural seminar in Vietnam’s capital

Editor09 mins

Authorities in Vietnam’s capital cut power to a building hosting a Ukrainian cultural seminar over the weekend, sources said Monday, in the latest bid by the one-party communist state to disrupt a Ukraine-related event since its ally Russia invaded the country in February. On July 16, a group of Vietnamese intellectuals who had lived and studied in Ukraine held a seminar on Ukrainian culture at the Sena Institute of Technology Research in Hanoi. Representatives from the Ukrainian Embassy in Vietnam, including Ukrainian Chargé d’Affaires Nataliya Zhynkina, and several Ukrainian students studying in Hanoi were in attendance. The seminar began with a performance of Ukrainian music by a group of visually-impaired students from Hanoi’s Nguyen Dinh Chieu School, but the building’s electricity went off in the middle of the show, which organizers and activists attributed to official malfeasance. Despite the interruption, the seminar proceeded in the dark, activist Dang Bich Phuong told RFA Vietnamese on Monday. “It was inconvenient in terms of comfort, but otherwise, the event went as planned. People still read poems, and a musician who was sitting in the corner still played his guitar passionately in the darkness. It was so touching,” Phuong said. “I noticed that most people accepted the situation very calmly. Despite the darkness, the choir still sang and people still clapped enthusiastically when poems were read, as others held up lights for them. I was very moved and emotional.” Organizers and activists told RFA that prior to the event, several people who planned to attend reported being monitored by police or being blocked from going by authorities. ‘A cultural problem’ Nguyen Khac Mai, the director of the Minh Triet Research Center and an organizer of the seminar, said that Vietnamese intellectuals who studied in Ukraine before going on to be leaders in their fields had asked to take part in the event to celebrate the country where they obtained their degrees. “These are people who had been nurtured and taught by Ukraine,” he said. “Now that they are successful, they want to gather and talk to one another about their sentiments for Ukraine and its people.” Mai said that the seminar had also aimed to amplify an earlier statement by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh that “Vietnam does not choose sides, but chooses justice.” Instead, he said, authorities attempted to silence those who would speak in support of Ukraine. “Usually, a power failure is a technical problem. I think this wasn’t a technical problem, but a cultural one. It’s very difficult to fix a cultural problem because it resides in one’s heart [and mind],” he said. “Some people agree that we should be able to conduct cultural activities in a natural and friendly way.  But others don’t like it and [cut the electricity] because of that.” In an emailed response to RFA’s questions about the event, Ukrainian Chargé d’Affaires Nataliya Zhynkina said that, despite the disruption, “I believe we all felt that we were surrounded by friendship.” “We heard praises for the culture, history, living style and people of Ukraine, as well as words of consolation for the losses caused by the Russian army and my compatriots who are suffering,” she said. Zhynkina cited the words of the wife of Ukraine’s Ambassador to Vietnam, who spoke at the end of Saturday’s cultural event, to describe the feelings of those in attendance. “She said, ‘Our hearts are aching for our country every day when we receive horrifying news from home. But do you know when the pain eases? That’s when it’s shared by loved ones, Vietnamese people sharing the pain with Ukrainians.’” Strong alliance Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Vietnam has repeatedly refused to condemn the war and also objected to a U.S.-led effort to suspend Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council. Earlier this month, Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov became the first Russian cabinet minister to visit Hanoi since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” against Ukraine. His visit took place as Hanoi and Moscow celebrated the 10th anniversary of the so-called “comprehensive strategic partnership” that Vietnam has forged with only three nations in the world – the other two being China and India. Moscow is Hanoi’s traditional ally and its biggest arms supplier. Most Vietnamese weaponry used by the navy and air force was bought from Russia, leading to a future dependence on Russian maintenance and spare parts, despite efforts to diversify arms supplies. The weekend’s seminar was not the first Ukraine-related event in Hanoi to be blocked by authorities. On March 5, police in the capital stopped people from leaving their homes to attend a charity event at the Ukrainian Embassy dedicated to raising funds for people in need in Ukraine. Another fundraising event planned for March 19 by a group of Ukrainians living in Hanoi was canceled due to police harassment, sources in the city told RFA at the time. Despite COVID-19, bilateral trade between Vietnam and Russia reached U.S. $5.54 billion in 2021, a 14-percent increase from the previous year, according to official statistics. Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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Cambodian opposition official hospitalized after motorbike attack

Editor07 mins

A group of 10 people on motorbikes on Sunday attacked an official of Cambodia’s main opposition Candlelight Party, causing a severe head injury that required hospitalization, the official told RFA. Nol Pongthearith was on his way to a meeting and on his own motorbike in front of the Candlelight Party office at Por Senchey district in the capital Phnom Penh when he was allegedly attacked by 10 people on four motorcycles. They shouted death threats and struck him, including on the back of his head, with an iron bar. He said he was bruised and bloodied all over his body and required 12 stitches. On Monday, Nol Pongthearith told RFA’s Khmer Service that he was forced to leave the hospital prematurely to continue his treatment at home to ensure his safety. He remains in pain and his wounds require further treatment. “I am concerned for my life because the assailants shouted that [they] wanted me dead. This is not normal,” he said, adding that he believes that he was targeted because he is a member of the Candlelight Party. Candlelight Party officials have complained for several months about incidents of violence and bullying by local officials representing Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), especially in the run up to the June 5 local communal elections. The Candlelight Party ended up winning about one-fifth of the country’s contested commune council seats. “These assaults will continue. Today it happened to me, tomorrow it will happen to other members,” Nol Pongthearith said. “I demand that the government … arrest the perpetrators who caused these injuries to me as well as the other Candlelight Party activists and members, and that they are tried before the law.” The Candlelight Party condemned the attack in a statement it released on Sunday and called on authorities to open an independent investigation to find the people responsible. Police have received Nol Pongthearith’s complaint and require his cooperation to investigate, Phnom Penh Municipal Police spokesman San Sok Seiha told RFA. San Sok Seiha however urged the victim and journalists not to connect his assault with politics or similar incidents in the past before an investigation is completed. “Don’t just say this or that, because every assessment released by the police needs to be accompanied with clear evidence,” he said. Candlelight Party Vice President Thach Setha told RFA the violence against his activists undermine the credibility of Cambodian elections.   He said that if the authorities do not want to see criticism or accusations that the incidents are related to politics, the authorities must seek justice for all victims by allowing an independent investigation. “In the past, political activists and civil society have never seen the authorities arrest the perpetrators and punish them, that is why we are in doubt,” he said.  The government wants to protect its own reputation or considers all cases as non-political.  “Please catch the perpetrators, and [those who ordered the attack] and bring them to justice,” said Thach Setha. Civil society groups are very concerned about the recurrence of violence against political activists, Am Sam Ath, director general of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, told RFA.  He said that if the police do not prevent these kinds of incidents, they will invite criticism of Cambodia’s political system at home and abroad. “The authorities need to protect the security of the people if there is a crime against an individual. It must be investigated to find the perpetrator and bring justice to victims and eradicate the culture of impunity,” Am Sam Ath said. According to RFA statistics, since 2019, around 40 social and political activists have been victims of the brutal assaults by unidentified assailants, causing serious injuries, permanent disability and even death.  The authorities were unable to identify the perpetrators in almost all cases. Many of the incidents were similar, involving helmeted attackers chasing their target on motorbikes, beating them or throwing stones at their homes. Sunday’s incident was the second time Nol Pongthearith was attacked — he was also assaulted in 2019, when he was a member of the banned-opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party.  Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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As many as 15 anti-regime teachers arrested in Myanmar

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Myanmar’s military junta has been rounding up teachers who are members of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CMD) and have been giving online lessons at a school linked to the shadow National Unity Government (NUG). Kaung for You was set up to educate pupils who are boycotting classes or have been unable to attend school. It offers online education by CDM teachers for around 20,000 children across the country. “We heard that up to 15 people were arrested in Yangon, Mandalay, Shan state and Thanintharyi region,” a member of the Myanmar Teachers’ Federation (MTF) told RFA on Monday. “The parents of the students are so worried. I warned Kaung for You school to be careful before the arrests. Anything can happen at any time when [the school] is public,” said the MTF member, who declined to be named for safety reasons. The arrests took place between July 13 and July 18 and included Kaung for You founder Kaung Thaik Soe, the assistant director for education at Myitthar township in Mandalay region. The school’s plan to move from online lessons to classroom teaching last Wednesday was halted by the arrests that day of Kaung Thaik Soe and two teachers. The junta announced the arrests three days later. The school says its website was then hacked, allowing the military council to locate and arrest other teachers. Students and parents told RFA they were also afraid of being arrested if their names and addresses had also been leaked. The NUG’s Ministry of Education denounced the arrests as a violation of children’s rights to free education. It said it would offer help to the detained teachers, continue courses for pupils and open an emergency hotline to provide advice and assistance. Aside from school boycotts, many children in Myanmar have been denied education since the coup on Feb.1, 2021 due to a surge in attacks on schools, teachers and students. There were at least 260 attacks on schools between May 2021 and April this year, non-profit organization Save the Children said in a report last month. In April bombs were found in four schools and there were three explosions in or close to schools. There were also 33 recorded cases of educational buildings being set on fire, 10 direct attacks on teachers and 10 schools occupied by the military. The ruling junta says at least 40 teachers have been killed in demonstrations and fighting between troops and militias.

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Vietnamese Facebook activist’s family speak out about his ‘secret trial’

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Facebook activist Nguyen Duc Hung’s family say he was denied visitors and they only found out about his five-and-a-half-year sentence from state media the day after it was handed down. Hung’s posts aimed to raise awareness of an environmental disaster in his hometown of Ky Anh. The Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh steel factory discharged chemical waste into the sea and environmentalists say the effects are still being felt by the residents. His social media posts did not focus solely on the disaster in his home town. He told his 9,000-plus followers about cases of social injustice and human rights abuses. He also focused on religious freedom, posting comments about the case of Thien An Monastery in which the provincial government of Thua Thien Hue “borrowed” land from the religious facility. Hung was convicted of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the criminal code. The indictment said Hung’s actions directly affected the implementation of the Party’s guidelines and policies, the State’s laws, and the strength of the people’s government, divided national unity, reduced the people’s trust in the Party and State, and potentially caused national insecurity and disorder. While the court claimed it was a public criminal trial Hung’s family said they heard nothing from the police or the court. “When they carried out the trial, my family did not know,” Hung’s father Nguyen Van Sen told RFA. “I phoned the detention center and was told that the trial had been carried out the day before. When I asked why they didn’t notify my family, the police said the family was not involved.” Sen got the same response when the called the provincial police’s investigative department. According to a lawyer who has defended many similar trials Hung’s case is not uncommon. Ha Huy Son said the court does not have to notify the family or invite them to the trial. He said Criminal Procedure Code 2015 only stipulates telling the family the person is in custody, or has been arrested in the case of an urgent arrest. It is only necessary to tell the defense lawyer, the victim and any other parties involved at least 10 days before the trial. Hung is the sixth Facebooker this year to be convicted of “conducting propaganda against the state.” The others received sentences of between five and eight years. Hung, 31, was arrested on Jan. 6 this year and has been held incommunicado since then. His father said, despite repeated trips to the detention center, the family was not allowed to see him. The family did not hire a defense lawyer and Sen said he did not know if one was present at the trial. Sen did not want to comment on the sentence, other than saying he hoped it would be reduced because Hung’s wife had left him to raise their two primary school children. State media did not mention whether Hung had a lawyer, only saying he had pleaded guilty and asked for leniency. RFA called the People’s Court of Ha Tinh province but no-one replied Communist Party paranoia  “Given the worsening situation for activists and human rights defenders in Vietnam, it was sadly just a matter of time before Nguyen Duc Hung got arrested,” said Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson. “It’s become obvious that the Vietnam Communist Party is so paranoid about dissenting views that it considers mere writing of words online to be a threat to state security. By giving out a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence for just writing criticism of the government on Facebook, the government has committed an outrageous and unacceptable violation of Nguyen Duc Thung’s rights.  In reality, he did nothing that would have been considered wrong, or even out of the ordinary, if he was in a democratic society, but of course he is stuck living under a single party dictatorship.” Roberts said Vietnam’s crackdown on freedom of expression means no peaceful activist can spread his views via social media without facing what he called “bogus state security charges” and many years in prison. “Quite clearly, Vietnam has become one of the worst rights abusing and dictatorial governments in Southeast Asia and now it wants to control the Internet as strictly as China. Any government donor or international business investor should think twice about investing in a country like Vietnam where freedom of expression and access to information is so strictly controlled,” Robertson said.

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Investigative Journalism Reportika © March 2022 by Ij-Reportika is licensed under CC BY 4.0